Sweet Mischief’s Rollercoaster Romance

Andre barely touched his water before setting it aside. "Time for bed."

Chad was starting to realize that nobody in this family actually listened to him.

At two in the morning, a pack of retirees finally spilled out of a private karaoke lounge, piling into their luxury cars. The manager stood by the door, waving them off like VIPs.

Back at the Cedillo house, even the driver killed the engine as quietly as possible. Hansen took a cautious look around before getting out. Seth whispered, "Is Andre really that intimidating?"

"You have no idea. When my brother loses his temper, only his wife and kid dare talk back. His wife can hold her own in a fight, and his son's just too fearless for his own good. The rest of us just keep our heads down."

Hansen's nerves rubbed off on Seth, and soon they were both sneaking around like teenagers breaking curfew.

On the third floor, Andre watched as the two elders, who'd been out partying till dawn, crept up the stairs and tried to slip inside unnoticed. They tiptoed to their bedrooms and Hansen whispered, "Seth, remember-don't post anything on Facebook where my three sons can see it."

Seth whispered back, "I don't even have your three sons on Facebook."

Hansen added, "Oh, I do. I'll block them. Go to sleep-tomorrow I'll show you something fun."

Seth grinned and nodded. Both men vanished into their rooms and closed their doors.

A moment later, both doors opened at the same time. Two men who'd stayed home stepped into the hallway and exchanged a look.

"Couldn't sleep either, Andre?" Chad asked.

Andre replied, "Did you hear that? They're blocking us."noveldrama

Chad nodded, both of them resigned.

Hansen uploaded the karaoke video to Facebook, making sure to block Bruce, Andre, and Chad from seeing it. He went to bed feeling quite pleased with himself.

Early the next morning, Naomi woke up and reached for her phone. “No idea when the three kids and the two old folks got home last night," she muttered.

She scrolled through Facebook, finding photos and videos from the night before. Every post was timestamped at one or two in the morning.

Naomi turned off her phone. "Honey, can I borrow your phone for a sec?"

Bruce, already buttoned up for work, handed it over without asking why.

Naomi scrolled through his Facebook and checked out the group's activity. Spotless. Nothing suspicious.

She handed the phone back, sitting up and giving Bruce a side-eye.

Bruce raised an eyebrow. "If you've got something to say, just say it."

Naomi just shrugged. "Nope, nothing."

Bruce sighed. "...I'm heading out."

"Drive safe."

Bruce left, still wondering what was going on.

Chad breakfast, Andre and

Chad, both running on almost no sleep, pushed their food around without much enthusiasm

"Hey, big brother, let me see your phone for a sec," Andre said.

Bruce unlocked his phone and handed it over. "Why does everyone need my phone today? Naomi just had it."

Sure enough, their Facebook feeds were squeaky clean. Andre and Chad exchanged a knowing look.

Bruce finished his breakfast in record time. "Chad, there's a city meeting soon. You're the representative this time. No sending a stand-in."

"Got it, big bro."

Once Bruce left, the two abandoned husbands dropped their forks.

"We definitely can't call them now," Chad said.

Andre finished, "Because they're all still asleep."

A few minutes later, Naomi came downstairs, heading for breakfast The moment she saw her two- brothers-in-law at the table, she spun around and slipped right back upstairs.

Chad grinned. "Naomi's smart. She knew we'd start questioning her."

Andre nodded. "So she's hiding out. That way, technically, she hasn't ratted anyone out."

After a quick, awkward breakfast, the guys headed off to work.

Home was a circus, but at least work was straightforward.

Across town, in a quiet neighborhood, three out of four bedrooms were still occupied by people catching up on sleep.

Annie, the early riser, woke up,

washed up, then quietly took out the trash from last night's fun before

heading to work, a small smile

playing on her lips.